Northwestern to Host TEDx April 12

“TEDX NorthwesternU 2014” to include student, faculty and alumni speakers

December 12, 2013

EVANSTON, IL—Northwestern University faculty, students and alumni may submit videos through midnight January 15, 2014 to be considered as speakers at the first day-long TEDX NorthwesternU 2014. “Crossing Paths” is the theme of the April 12, 2014 event on the Northwestern Evanston campus in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, organizers of the event announced.

Submissions for the TEDXNorthwesternU 2014 roster of nine “genius talks” will be in the form of one-minute videos with a brief description of the talk in 100 words. Candidates may also include in the description up to three supplemental examples of materials, such as links to video clips, published work, personal websites or an attached resume or CV. Only submissions with links to 1-minute videos posted to youtube.com or vimeo.com will be considered. Details for submission are available here.

Three faculty, three alumni and three student speakers selected to deliver the 18-minute talks will be announced February 1, 2014 by the TEDX Executive Board of 12 students and faculty co-organizer, Michele Weldon, assistant professor emerita of journalism at the Medill School.

“My goal ultimately is to engage our community with ideas that would otherwise not be shared widely,” said Nikita Ramanujam, (SESP, LOC 2015) co-organizer of the event. “I get so excited by the possibility of what could happen when we collaborate and put our most positive spirit forward.”

Video submissions should include the candidate’s name and title of the presentation and also whether the person is faculty, alumni or a student. The video should also include the candidate’s three main points of the proposed talk.

“Show why a TEDX audience wants to know about your original idea that intersects with the theme,” said Weldon, who also directs the Northwestern Public Voices Fellowship. “Demonstrate why you are the best qualified speaker to deliver this talk and make sure your TEDX talk will be an idea worth sharing.”

More than 1,104 universities have hosted TEDX events for a global audience with the mission to “foster learning, inspiration and wonder and to provoke conversations that matter.” Since its launch in 2009, TED talks have earned more than 100 million views globally. Some individual TED talks have been seen by more than 20 million viewers.

TEDX NorthwesternU 2014 will have three sessions with each featuring a student, faculty member, alumnus or alumna talking individually on a chosen topic related to the theme. Session 1 will run from 10-11:30 a.m.; Session 2 will run 12-1:30 p.m. and Session 3 will run 2-3:30 p.m.